Cards

Monday, May 23, 2016

Blockbuster Trade on Zistle

Zistle user DMK250 contacted me with trade proposal. He offered me all kinds of junk wax and vintage from my wantlist in exchange for all kinds of rookies and inserts of Philadelphia Eagles. We hammered out a trade, and it was MASSIVE. So many cards changed hands (in the neighborhood of 500 total) that I didn't even try to scan and post everything. Here are some highlights.

Let's start off with the BYU players, both of the football and baseball variety. Wrigley Roster Jenga posted this same Golden Richards card last week, pointing out that most people know him as a Cowboy, not a Bear. I want to point out that the back of this card lists Hawaii as his college, but he spent his first 3 years of college eligibility at BYU before his grades forced him out of school. He's still a fan favorite in Provo, and people remember him fondly for the NCAA records he set while wearing royal blue. His post-football life has been somewhat tragic, as I learned a few weeks ago from an essay written by a Chicago journalist. I forget the writer's name and the essay's title, but the writer spent a weekend with Richards and saw first-hand the sad state of drug addiction and lies that make up his life. It seems that I hear a lot about former football players who become addicted to painkillers and fall into a downward spiral. And I don't know what can be done about that. As much as I love football and would have played a lot longer myself, had I been blessed with more talent and size, there is an ugly side to it.

The majority of the cards I received were Packers, most coming in the 90s variety. I like this Stars and Stripes Perry Kemp. It's a set I know absolutely nothing about and had never heard of before this trade, but it's unique in my collection.

Here are some All-Decade players from the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s teams. I love that Zenith Atwater, and I think 1994 Upper Deck (represented by LeRoy Butler) doesn't get as much love as it deserves. It's definitely a good-looking set. The Walter Payton is pretty beat up, but it's okay. At least my trading partner warned me about it.

Though there were many, many more football cards, I've just given you a small sampling. Now let's check out the baseball.

Here is a smattering of the Cubs DMK sent me. Love the Upper Deck Heroes Black Aramis Ramirez. I'm trying to pick up all of the 1993 Topps Gold parallels of my PCs, and this trade brought me a few of them, including this former Cub utility-man Steve Buechele.

All of these cards fit PCs. You'll notice another 1993 Topps Gold. I love the Eric Karros and Mike Piazza on the same card, as I collect both of those players. I'm not a Dodgers fan, but LA sure had a run of Rookie of the Year award winners in the 1990s, so I have PCs of Karros, Piazza, Todd Hollandsworth, Hideo Nomo, and Raul Mondesi.

I'll leave you with some oddballs, highlighted by two hand-cut Gracies from card magazines. Thanks DMK250 for the trade.